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Ten years after 9/11

On this sunny September Sunday, I’m unpacking from a recent trip to Washington, D.C. (I’ll write more about my trip to the State Department later).

Because today is the ten-year memorial of the 9/11 attacks, emotions and caution were running high in D.C. when I left yesterday. And those same emotions are running high all over the country: we’re all remembering that day and hearing warnings that another day like that could come.

There are two pieces I’ve read today that I really enjoyed and wanted to share. My Talk Islam colleague Aziz Poonawalla has written a great piece on the tenth memorial for BeliefNet:

Ten years after, during which we seemed intent on exploring being everyone other than ourselves, it’s time to finally reclaim our confidence and our resolve about who we are as a nation and as a people.

…what we Muslims can do is advance the conversation, rather than repeating the same old condemnations. Condemnations and apologies are like an out of style fashion trend, the parachute pants and neon hair scrunchies of civil discourse.

I agree with both of the above sentiments because I believe it’s time to move forward. It’s time to move past fear, ignorance, and the awful news media coverage–there’s no reason to watch the planes fly into the Twin Towers over and over.

But moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting. I’m tired of hearing the words, “Never forget.” Because we will never forget. It isn’t possible to forget that day, even if you weren’t in New York.